City Museum To Host Printmakers Exhibition

A limited edition print portfolio produced by students and invited artists of Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, is set to continue its journey to exhibitions around the world by debuting at the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery from 10 January to 7 February 2009, and then touring venues in Wick, Thurso and Kingussie.

The portfolio project is undertaken by final year students of Gray’s each year, taking their individual prints and combining these in an attractive box set format (approximately 25cm2 in size) to be easily transportable. Some 40 unique box sets are produced each year, with a sample displayed at Gray’s annual Degree Show.

Now in its seventh year, the printmaking portfolio project has established a successful reputation as far afield as Prague, Chicago and Tallinn. Closer to home, the portfolio has been exhibited at Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen, the R.K. Burt Gallery, London, The Compass Gallery, Glasgow, and is now destined for Inverness. Invited artists for this year’s portfolio are Robin Wilson, Anna Mitchell, William Moulding and Gordon Burnett.

The project has proved to be extremely successful, both in terms of exposure for the students and in financial rewards. Professor Lennox Dunbar, Course Leader for Printmaking at Gray’s, said, “I am very pleased that this year’s portfolio is to be shown around the North of Scotland, as this is a strong catchment area for students wishing to study at Gray’s, and the portfolio shows the high level of professionalism expected of students who enter the course.”

Dean Melville, Exhibitions Co-ordinator at The Highland Council, said: “We’re delighted to be representing the North-east in the North of Scotland with an exhibition of such high quality that’s so well suited to our touring exhibitions remit. It’s also great to help raise the profile of Gray’s School of Art and expose the first-class work of its students.”

Also on display in Inverness Museum and Art Gallery from 10 January to 7 February is an exhibition from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery featuring bronze busts of twelve poets who have made significant contributions to Scottish literature. All the bronzes are new works by Scottish Artists and including busts of Norman McCaig, Sorley MacLean and Liz Lochhead.

The touring exhibition will visit: St Fergus Gallery, Wick, from 14 February – 14 March; the Swanson Gallery, Thurso, from 21 March – 18 April; then Iona Gallery in Kingussie from 25 April – 23 May.